We deeply appreciate all of the people who are supporting the Museum through their membership. This illustrates the shared interest that we all have in promoting and advancing the knowledge and appreciation of the cocktail, and the historical significance of this uniquely American cuisine.

When we released our updated website many months ago, one of the "hidden" features of the site was a "Members Club", which will allow members to log in, and then access parts of the website where we provide some content which is just for members. It’s been a bit of work to get this login feature working, and to allow it to (relatively painlessly) create an account which would be connected to the members contact information which we were already keeping in a database, and more importantly to complete the first stage in what we hope is a great "value add" feature of the site.

Well, this weekend we finally got things to a stage where we think we’re ready to open things up to our members. Our "first stage" content is what we are calling our "Digital Library". This is a collection of books an pamphlets which we have scanned in and uploaded to the site so you can look through some of the historical information which you might not otherwise have access to. Over time we will be adding additional titles to this collection, as well as adding scans from historical menus, and various other forms of information.

Over the weekend I sent e-mail to all active members of the Museum who we have addresses stored in our database. Please check that e-mail and use the special link that it included to make sure that your login account gets properly attached to your contact information we have on file for you. This will allow you to keep your address, and email up to date for our records.

Here is a list of the books which are currently available via the "Members Club":

While Harry Johnson didn’t publish the first bartenders manual, it is one of the first which actually goes into amazing detail as to the role and responsibilities of the bartenders of the day. This book represents one of the great works of the day which helps us better understand the history and evolution of the bartender.

MIXED DRINKS and How To Make Themdistributed by The Bishop And Babcock Company Published: 1900

The Bishop and Babcock Company sold a large line of beer service supplies, and in this promotional booklet, they interspersed listings of the various products they sold with recipes for cocktails of the day. Not being a specialist in cocktails, there are some inaccuracies in the recipes presented, but this booklet does provide a glimpse of what some of the cocktails of the day were back in 1900.

Albert Pick & CompanySaloon Supplies Published: 1918

The Albert Pick Company was a well established supplier of supplies for Saloons and similar establishments prior to Prohibition. They eventually branched out into owning a chain of hotels.

Heres Howby: Fee Brothers Published: 1932?

"The proper use of beverages distinguishes the thoughtful host or hostess and lends enjoyment to the occasion. To you who seek perfection in the expression of hospitality we humbly dedicate this little booklet and trust that its suggestions may prove helpful."

Note: This guidebook is currently incomplete. The remaining pages will be inserted as they are cleaned up by our expert team of image manipulators.

"The drinks in this book have been mixed in the pre-prohibition era over a period of 17 years, at bars of notable patronage in New York City and also in other states. A few have been mixed during the days of prohobition at private functions with prohibition ingredients. I have observed the novice and his conception of mixing drinks and have noticed that too much of the proper ingredients were used for the various drinks. The object of this book is to help revive the lost art of mixing drinks correctly, and the recipes contained herein are selected from years of mixing. I hereby give you a varied selection to choose from as the vogue of today is variety."

"The purpose of this book is to give the individual in concise form sufficient knowledge of wines and liquors so that he may know how to recognize quality, how to detect imitation and adulteration, how to keep and how to serve alcoholic beverages. Directions for preparing the popular cocktails are included."

"The cocktail recipes in this book were chosen after months of careful study. Old-time bartenders of Boston have assisted in their choice and we feel certain that all of these drinks will prove delicious."